Report Criticizes Military Readiness

April 10, 1997|By ERIC ROSENBERG and Hearst Newspapers

WASHINGTON — U.S. armed forces are not prepared to fight a war such as Operation Desert Storm, let alone carry out a military strategy aimed at winning two major conflicts simultaneously, the House National Security Committee chairman said on Wednesday.

``We couldn't do another Persian Gulf operation again today,'' said Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., referring to the 42-day conflict with Iraq in 1991.

Spence released a 24-page report at a news conference alleging that the military's readiness to fight has nosedived over the last four years because of diminished Pentagon spending and the use of troops for nontraditional functions such as peacekeeping in Bosnia and Haiti.

Such operations have eaten up training dollars and worn down equipment, his report said.

Military readiness is a catch-all phrase for the unglamorous side of warfare. It includes troop training, spare parts, salaries, base housing and commissaries.

``Indicators of a long-term systemic readiness problem are far more prevalent today than they were in 1994,'' the report said. ``Declining defense budgets, a smaller force structure, fewer personnel and aging equipment, all in the context of an increase in the pace of operations, are stretching U.S. military forces to the breaking point.''

The chairman also said troop morale was at its lowest point in years.

Democrats on Spence's committee were not invited to take part in the study, said a Democratic staffer on the panel.

``This is a very partisan thing,'' he said. The staffer, who asked not to be identified, also questioned the data-gathering techniques used by committee investigators, saying they relied mainly on anecdotal information.

Spence said the report's findings were based on interviews that his staff conducted at 30 military installations, including several in California, and at U.S. bases in Germany and Italy.